You may have heard that several high-profile women, like Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg and pop star Beyonce, have started a campaign to ban the word “bossy” as a description for girls, saying it discourages them from being ambitious. I can get behind that, even if the only girl I can recall being regularly described as bossy is Lucy Van Pelt, and it certainly didn’t stop her from making tremendous progress in the field of roadside psychiatry.

What I can’t necessarily get behind, though, is Beyonce’s declaration that “I’m not bossy -- I’m the boss.” People familiar with my musical predilections can probably guess my particular opinion as to who’s The Boss, and it ain’t Beyonce. But I’m willing to give her the benefit of the doubt and do a side-by-side comparison among her and the other big machers who’ve been labeled “boss” over the years. In other words, we’ll just see who’s boss.

Occupation: Singer/songwriter; defender of the downtrodden; former future of rock ’n’ roll.

Boss Pros: How much time you got? (For starters, well, he’s The Boss.)

Boss Cons: Would probably feel some sort of obligation to find a position for Jon Bon Jovi.

Would I Want To Work For This Person? I’ve been waiting for the phone to ring since 1984, so YES.

So there you have it -- I’d say Bruce is top boss, but Beyonce’s certainly holding her own. And the fact that there are only a few women on this list of famous bosses says that Sandberg and Co. are probably onto something: What we need is less “bossy” and more bosses.

I’m talking to you, Lucy. Please don’t slug me.

Peter Chianca is editor in chief for Gatehouse Media New England’s north-of-Boston newspapers and websites. Follow him on Twitter at @pchianca.